Temporal animation API: time dimension, time-series tiles, playback endpoints

[mikemcdougall]

Context

Honua has temporal query filtering (FeatureServerTemporalQueryBuilder, time info metadata). What's missing is the temporal visualization and animation layer — time sliders, animated playback, time-series tile variants. CARTO, Mapbox, and Esri all support temporal animation for tracking movement, environmental change, and historical analysis.

Scope

WMS/WMTS TIME Dimension

• WMS TIME parameter support: &TIME=2025-01-01/2025-12-31
• WMTS time dimension in GetCapabilities
• Time-stamped tile variants (vector tiles filtered by time range)

Temporal Query Enhancements

• GET /rest/services/{id}/FeatureServer/{layerId}/query?time=<start>,<end>
• Temporal extent endpoint: GET .../timeExtent → min/max timestamps, time step suggestion
• Time histogram: GET .../timeHistogram?interval=month → feature counts per time bucket
• Temporal statistics: group-by-time aggregation

Animation Support

• Frame generation: server generates temporal slices at configurable intervals
• Tile temporal variants: MVT tiles with {z}/{x}/{y}/{t}.mvt addressing
• Temporal diff: features that changed between two time ranges

SDK Integration

• JS SDK: HonuaFeatureLayer.setTimeExtent(start, end) → filter all queries
• JS SDK: HonuaFeatureLayer.animate(options) → frame-by-frame temporal playback
• Time slider widget component for web map portal (#368)

Use Cases

• Fleet/asset tracking playback
• Environmental monitoring (air quality, water level over time)
• Historical change analysis (urban growth, land use change)
• Event timeline (incidents, inspections, work orders)

Edition Gating

• Community: basic temporal filtering (existing) + temporal extent endpoint
• Pro: animation API, time-series tiles, temporal histogram, time slider widget

References

• Existing: FeatureServerTemporalQueryBuilder, FeatureServerTimeInfo
• WMS 1.3 TIME dimension (OGC spec)
• CARTO time-series visualization
• Mapbox temporal filtering
• Spatial analytics API: server-side clustering, density, spatial joins #342 Spatial analytics API (temporal aggregation extends this)